What If You Were The Plan?预览

Many days of my childhood were spent with friends hiking a canyon near my house in West Texas. The best trail ran adjacent an iconic structure designed by artist, Robert Bruno. He worked for decades on a futuristic looking house constructed entirely out of scrap metal. Yet, after almost thirty years the project remained unfinished.

His is not the only construction endeavor left undone. The Cape Town’s Unfinished Bridge in South Africa is just that: unfinished. Funding ran out before the project reached completion and has become more of a tourist attraction than its original intent. 

You might not be aware, but our good friend Abraham had trouble finishing what he started, too. Somewhere along the road toward Canaan Abraham stopped short of the Promised Land, settling in Haran. He stayed quite a while. Years passed. Here he was nowhere closer to the promise and ceased walking in obedience. 

Abraham was just living life, minding his own business. 

What’s so terrible about stopping short of where God intended you to go? 

For starters, you never receive the promise! Countless others are not blessed while you and I mind our own business. On a practical note, unplanned stops along the roadside waste time, energy and money. At the core, the tragedy lies in a failure to see if God can really do what He says He can do and experience it for yourself.

A lot can go wrong in the pit stops, detours, hesitations, derailments, and failures to follow through that we sometimes take. 

If Abraham can stop short of the Promised Land, you and I can be sure to experience a similar temptation to stop a while, minding our own business, rather than keeping to the path of obedience. 

Maybe you have allowed something to cause you to stop short of complete obedience. It can be good, even essential thing. All too often the urgent overrides the important. Before we know it, a month, a year, even a decade can pass since we were walking in the direction we know God led us toward. If so, bring your failed attempts at following to Jesus. Your God is a forgiving God. 

Today when you pray, consider where it is God is leading you. In relationships, in ministry, in your areas of expertise, are you currently walking in obedience? What is God saying to you about your journey?